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THE
SOUTH AFRICAN 7.62mm BREN LIGHT MACHINE GUN |
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The
History of the BREN LGM in South African Service, is a long one and can be
considered in two key phases, that of the service of the 'standard'
.303" 'British' caliber Arm (7.7x56R), and that of the large number of
these Arms subsequently converted to 7.62mm NATO. (7.62x51) by the South
African Armaments industry. A
full account of the introduction and service of the .303 Arms is deserving of
its own independent record and this page serves to present the known history
and detail of the South African converted 7.62mm BREN Arm, as is currently
known. A
History of any of the 'unique to South Africa' Arms, whether modified,
converted or wholly produced in this Country is, by nature, unofficial and sketchy
due to a lack of understanding and co-operation of those organisations within
the South African Services, Armaments and Engineering Sectors, who are
believed to hold much of the information and supporting documentation
relating to South African Arms and who singularly fail to recognise or
respond to Researchers of this particular field. Any
reader who believes he or she may able to contribute to this research, no
matter how small or insignificant the contribution, is please asked to
contact the Association. (Contact SAAACA GC). The South African Conversation: 7.62mm BREN LMG: In
the early 1970's and at about the time the conversion program of the Vickers
MMG came to an end, Lyttleton Engineering Works, or 'LIW", the Small
Arms subsidiary of Armscor, the then State Armaments Corporation, began the
conversion program of some 8,000 BREN Guns of various differing Marks, from
its native .303" Brt. caliber to the then more common and appropriate
Service Round; 7.62mm NATO, on behalf of the then South African Defence
Force. The
conversion program was highly organised involving a full compliment of
Mechanical Engineers and Designers, Metallurgists, Machinists and other
necessary skills to design, document and effect this conversion on a
'production line' process. It
is not know to what extent the British Conversion of the BREN to 7.62mm, the
L4A1, influenced the South African conversion, but a comparison of the two
Arms immediately show the South African conversion to be less complicated and
consisting of: 1.
Barrel: - A manufactured from new 7.62mm Barrel, fitted with recovered
Handle assembly, Gas bleed assembly and Front Sight assembly, fitted with a
standard 22mm Flash hider assembly consistent with the South African produced
FAL or R1 Rifle, minus Grenade retaining spring clip. Note
that very early South African produced 7.62mm BREN Barrels retained the
typical funnel shaped flash hiders of the standard .303" BREN. The
Breech dimension of the 7.62mm Barrel is longer than for the standard
.303" Barrel as a result of the Breech Block Face being machined away in
the conversion process. (see Breech Block). After
fitting, the Barrel would be hand stamped marked with the existing Serial
Number of the Receiver to which it was matched, with the Spare Barrel being
marked with this number, followed by 'S', the lettering being approximately
5mm high. All
Barrels where marked: 7.62mm in a similar fashion. 2.
Breech Block: - The existing Breech Block was modified to accommodate
the rimless 7.62mm Cartridge by having the vertical face of the Block
machined away, reducing the depth of the cartridge pocket within the Breech
Face. The
existing Firing Pin assembly was retained and the protrusion of the Pin
corrected by hand to suit the 7.62mm cartridge. The
Ejector Claw was changed to a new made unit specifically designed to
accommodate the rimless round, retaining the standard spring and guide
assembly. This Claw will be found to be marked: '7.62' by hand with electric
pencil. 3.
The Magazine Aperture: Was slightly machined out to accept a metric
size Magazine, which in the case of the South African conversion appears as a
30 round version of a standard FN FAL or R1 straight, pressed metal, Magazine. Note:
Although these 30 rnd magazines will properly fit and initially function with
the FAL or R1 Rifles, they are specifically designed to feed downward with
gravity assist for the BREN and will not feed the contents of the entire
magazine upward if used on the FAL / R1. 4.
The Magazine Release Catch: and assembly was replaced with a new made
assembly, modified to suit the 30 rnd Magazine. 5. The Rear Sight Assembly: was
modified and calibrated to suit the 7.62mm cartridge, usually being calibrated
to a maximum range of 2,000 Meters. It appears existing sight vernier was
machined clean of its existing markings and new markings applied assuming a
factor or x100. All other parts appear to be retained, with the re-calibrated
vernier being marked '7.62'. The
Process: The
conversion process consisted of a number of "operators' or 'fitters',
each working at a specific Bench, receiving a complete Arm for conversion
after the appropriate control procedures. Each
Arm was extensively examined for defect or faults that would affect the
operation or finish of the conversion and any found where rectified at this
point. The
Arm was then stripped with all components being placed into specific trays or
plastic bags, fundamentally designated for; -
Reuse, -
Reuse after modification, (which usually took place in another part of the
Factory), and -
Replacement with new, modified parts. All
trays ands bags where marked to the original Receiver number, ensuring all
parts stayed together for a particular Arm. At
this point, the marking; '7.62mm' in 10mm high numerals was applied to the
Left Hand Side of the Receiver Body and the appropriate trays or bags
collected for processing elsewhere in the facility. In
all cases new and used metal parts where Phosphate treated before use or
re-use. On
completion of processing elsewhere in the facility, which included the
machining and finishing of all original parts to be modified, all components
where returned to the Operator for re-assembly into a complete, working Arm
along with the require new parts which where drawn from production Stores. It is interesting to note that the upper
body section of a ZGB33, Serial No. 65, has been discovered having been marked
and treated as per the conversion process, but having been rejected and
scrapped due incompatibilities in the area of barrel bearing, locking nut,
sight, butt etc. Final
assembly included the marking of the Barrels as previously described,
electric pencil marking of the Ejector Claw, the Bipod Support Collar of the
lower body assembly and the gauging and checking of all critical tolerances,
inclusive of Headspace, before the Arm was moved to another area for Test
Fire, Accuracy and Grouping and a final check. From
this point, not much further is know about the process and it is expected
that the Arms where cleaned, treated and packed for storage and shipping,
prior to being returned to the Defence Force for use. Comment
has been made by former members of the conversion engineering team as to the
resulting accuracy of the converted Guns, which produced Arms of greatly
varying accuracy. It
is true to say that the finally converted and accepted Arms showed an
acceptable level of accuracy, but never reached the inherent level of
accuracy the .303 BREN was coveted for. The
7.62mm BREN saw service with the South African Army for only a short period,
many of the 'Commando' or 'Territorial' Units training with them, as did many
of the National Service Units. It
is know that that the vast majority of 7.62mm BREN Guns were withdrawn from
South Africa Service in the mid 1970's and supplied to the them Rhodesian
Security Forces, the South Africans continuing with the FN MAG 58 LMG and
having also effected the conversion of a number of Browning 1919A Machine
Guns to 7.62mm. In
both the South African and Rhodesian Service Units, the converted BREN was
not favoured as an active service weapon, due to its inherently slow rate of
fire, small magazine capacity and unduly high weight. This
assured that these Arms saw relatively little active service, compared to its
MAG counterpart and were mostly relegated to fixed protection and some patrol
Vehicle applications. Uncertainty
remains to this day as to the number of BREN's finally converted by South
Africa, supplied to Rhodesia, or indeed, how many the Rhodesians may have
converted, (either themselves or by contract with South African Engineering
companies), as it is know that the conversion process documentation and
drawings were provided to Rhodesia in the mid 1970's. The
7.62mm BREN and associated components pictured on this page is typical of the
BREN's which where initially converted in South African and finally saw
service in Rhodesia. Originally
an Enfield made BREN Mk3 dated 1958, the Arm was converted as described and
provided to Rhodesia where it was taken on to strength as RA558. During
its time in Rhodesia and as was the practice at the time, the entire Arm was
hand painted in a two colour camouflage scheme, intended to break up the
obviously straight lines and silhouette of such an Arm where used in the
Bushveld. Sold
off as surplus by Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) some time after the
Independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 and maintained in a private collection
thereafter, the Arm finally returned to South Africa in 2002 where it remains
in the authors' hands to this day. |
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Maintained by:
Chris D Baragwanath, Dave Feinstein and Peter Wells, Johannesburg (Cleaning Kit Pic courtsey of Tom Bear (UK) and Peter Wells (SA) Last Update: 07 September 2003 |
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